I've written about Brazil pre-Lula and post-Lula and spent the last five years covering all aspects of the country for Dow Jones, Wall Street Journal and Barron's. Meanwhile, for an undetermined amount of time, and with a little help from my friends, I will be parachuting primarily into Brazil, Russia, India and China. But will also be on the look out for interesting business stories and investing ideas throughout the emerging markets.

China Year Ending Trade Growth Disappoints

China’s year ending trade growth fell short of the government’s growth target, the General Administration of Customs said late Thursday.

China’s foreign trade grew 6.2 percent year-on-year to $3.86 trillion, lower than the 10 percent target set by Premier Wen Jiabao at the beginning of the year. Exports rose by 7.9 percent to $2.05 trillion, compared with a 20.3 percent jump in 2011. Imports gained 4.3 percent to $1.82 trillion, down from 24.9 percent growth the previous year.

According to the customs website, China’s trade declined by 3.7 percent with the European Union and by 3.9 percent with Japan. However, it registered an increase of 8.5 percent with the U.S. Exports and imports recorded their lowest growth figures in the past decade, with exception of 2009, the year after U.S. led financial crisis.

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